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This was assu her sporadic persuasion worked, but she was hopeful; after all, she’d been storing up a lot of it over the last three weeks
Thronos pinned her gaze with his own frenzied one "You’ll wear that collar for the rest of your immortal life That you retain it is a stroke of fortune"
She kneas serious Which et away from him and find that hand "You alanted me biddable, didn’t you? Like Vrekener fehed, drank, danced, or sang, and alore drab, full-coverage clothing
A world away froarhtly colored masks, and bold makeup
And, horror of horrors--Vrekeners disdained the wearing of gold For a gold-worshipping sorceress like Lanthe, this was blasphemy "You alished I’d been born ht as well have been powerless Over these centuries, you could hardly use your abilities--even without the collar"
Burn Worse, he was right Though persuasion was her root power--the one she’d been born with, akin to her soul--she’d al her sister froed er Each ti Sabine’s body to mend itself
Lanthe’s ruined poell-known While Sorceri had stolen other abilities from her, there’d been no takers on her defective soul
"Look at your glittering eyes Sensitive about this, creature?"
She reed a few spurts of persuasion in ened, and she’d rendered Omort--a nearly oh for the deht and kill him Without Lanthe’s help, Rydstroe demons of Rothkalina from Omort’s oppression
How badly she wished for everyone in the Lore to know about that! Then they’d respect her
She narrowed her eyes, recalling another time she’d conjured persuasion "I used my sorcery on you the last time we met"
Thronos clearly didn’t like to be reo, he’d set a trap around one of her portals, lying in wait for her to return When she’d cohts, she’d eked out soh the portal
"If you recall, I resisted your coed to shove his boot through the door Alas, the portal closure had severed his foot
Because of him she’d failed to rescue her sister from a perilous situation, so naturally Lanthe had kicked his foot around her roo at it
She slitted her eyes up at hiet this collar off otten!" The rain continued to pour; ghouls howled below But Lanthe was too pissed to pay them any et I ever lived!"
Ascars on his cheeks whitened "Never!"
"Why not, demon? Every day I wish I’d never been in that s to their terrifying full length, a span of over fifteen feet "I’ yourself that He looked to say et me off this island, you can’t just keepRydstrom--now Lanthe’s brother-in-laas ferocious about Sabine’s and Lanthe’s protection, vowing to slay anyone who thought to harm either sister
He understood that without Lanthe, his beloved wife Sabine wouldn’t have survived all those years, and he felt indebted to her But Rydstrom and Sabine didn’t know the truth: Lanthe had caused the Vrekeners to descend on them in the first place--because she’d stupidly befriended Thronos, a fact that she’d never revealed to her sister
"And what friends would those be?" Thronos grated
"Perhaps you’ve heard of my brother-in-law Rydstrom, the ruler of Rothkalina,of the Air Territories--Thronos’s brother--of his protection Any plot to harainst all rage demons "Rydstrom is my protector"
"I have no fear of him Just as I had no fear of your previous protector Oine what Thronos had heard about Omort Once he’d stolen Rydstron of terror in Rothkalina Though she and Sabine had resided with their brother--half brother--in the seized Castle Tornin, that didn’tbehavior
They would’ve escaped, but he’d had lethal controls in place, forever forcing the Sabine, "I’ll scream if he beheads another oracle" He’d butchered hundreds of the their heads from their necks with his bare hands
"What can we do?" Sabine had said, sounding as blasé as ever "Take it up with htered Or worse
Lanthe had a brief is had really been like with Omort To explain that she’d lived in Castle Tornin under two kings--and now thanked gold for her new life under Rydstron But then she recalled that she wouldn’t be around Thronos long enough to waste the effort Not that the Vrekener would believe her anyway
So she returned to intimidation "If you don’t fear Rydstro" The three-thousand-year-old Valkyrie was a soothsayer, ruh N&iu the future and pastthe entire freaking Accession, that great i time
"Nïx, then?" he scoffed
Okay, so ht, per se (they’d scarcely spoken) But Nïx had been in on the plot to kill Omort, had aided Sabine, Lanthe, and Rydstroood friend "Yes, the Valkyrie is one of ht you’d be more skilled at deception" He drew his lips back fros "Who do you think told me how to find you?"
Lanthe rocked on her feet--either froain "She wouldn’t" Lanthe should’ve known better than to trust a Valkyrie!
"She would and she did Along with so you"
"Tell et caught by the Order?" He had to have--how else could mortals have captured a male who could fly?
But then, how the hell had they taken half of these beings? She’d probably been their easiest catch When Lanthe had left Tornin, heading to the ht, a woold; Lanthe had followed like a slavering dog--right into a trap
"That’s a big risk, based on a aze over her "My reward is co her tean to pace the ses, while keeping away fro at the sight of hi Vrekener attacks had affected Lanthe and Sabine in different ways While Sabine had been left deadened to fear, Lanthe had grown chronically nervous, always expecting another surprise strike Now her every instinct for survival was on high alert just from his nearness--
The plateau suddenly split open like halves of a log chopped in two She screae yawned between her and Thronos
When the motion stilled and she could clear her vision, she saw they were on opposite sides of a brand-new chas all the earth around theet me killed up here!" she yelled, but Thronos was already in flight